Hey, Kid
by TheSilverArgents
Summary: Jack and Katherine know from day one that Ruth Kelly would adore her Uncle Spot until the end of tim


Jack and Katherine know from day one that Ruth Kelly would adore her Uncle Spot until the end of time. He brings them flowers the morning she's born and he acts like it's no big deal that he did when really all of Brooklyn helped chip in for them. Jack passes Ruth to Spot and he isn't quite sure what to do when he holds her so Jack shows him how to support her head in his elbow. She'd been sleeping but the movement woke her and her lower lip began to tremble, the signal of an onslaught of wails and tears that Spot had seen so many times before from the younger boys and he shushed her gently. Katherine raised her head from the pillow to watch him and smiled when she saw how he was gently rocking her, whispering soothing words to her.

She fell asleep in her Uncle Spot's arms that night, not aware of the threat that Spot leveled at her father if he told anyone what happened that night.

* * *

><p>"Uncle Spot, Uncle Spot!" He heard a familiar high-pitched voice yell from behind him.<p>

Spot Conlon looked up from the new kid he was trying to assist with the papes and saw his seven-year-old niece running at him full-speed. His face cracked into a grin and one of his newsies actually stepped away in terror. Suddenly, a pair of thin arms wrapped themselves around his waist and he looked down at her to see Ruth Kelly peering up at him.

"What are you dong here?" She asked, curious and excited at the same time.

"I'm showin' newbies to sell some papes." He explained and she nodded her understanding. He pulled on one of her braids and she giggled. A shriek of "Oh my Goodness" came from the direction Ruth had come in and he saw a woman walking up to them, a horrified look on her face.

"You know that lady?" Spot muttered to her.

Ruth nodded, "That's my teacher, Mrs. Reed. She's nice!" She looked away from Spot and turned to her teacher, "Hi, Mrs. Reed!" Ruth called to her waving.

"Ruth why on Earth would you split away from the group, you had us worried sick!" Mrs. Reed chided her, stooping down to her level so that she could look her in the eyes.

"Oh it's okay Mrs. Reed! I was with my Uncle Spot!" Ruth pointed up to him and he just gave a shrug.

"Oh, but something could've happened to you!" Mrs. Reed continued, but relief flowed in her voice. She looked up at Spot and her eyes darted to the bag of papes on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Mrs. Reed. Brooklyn's safe for me right, Uncle Spot?" Ruth looked up at him, expecting back-up and he nodded emphatically.

"That's right, kid." Spot placed a hand on her shoulder protectively and Mrs. Reed nodded after a moment of looking between the apparent uncle and niece.

"Alright then, sweetie. But, it's time to go back to school now so that we can draw pictures of the Bridge, say goodbye to your uncle." Mrs. Reed instructed getting up and making her way back to the group of children.

"Bye Uncle Spot." Ruth pouted glumly looking down at the pavement. Seeing that expression on her face made his heart ache and he mimicked the way her teacher crouched down to her level and put a finger under her chin, making her look at him. "Whaddaya say I swing by your house tonight and you can show me whatever picture your drawin' at school today?"

Her face instantly brightened, "Really?!"

"Yeah, kid." Spot nodded. Her smile was infectious and soon he found his lips turning up at the corners. He pulled her into a hug and held her there for a moment before letting her run back to her class.

* * *

><p>"Boys are idiots, Mother, I honestly don't know why you put up with them." Ruth sniffed as she shoved some papers into a binder.<p>

Jack, Davey, and Spot looked up at her with matching expressions of mingling offense and surprise. Katherine's eyebrows were raised in curiosity and Clara's face was as if she'd been waiting for this sentence to leave the eldest Kelly child's mouth from the moment she was born.

"What uh, happened?" Jack asked hesitantly from his spot at his desk, not quite sure if he wanted to know.

Ruth didn't even look up as she pulled out a textbook from her backpack and began flipping pages as she spoke, "Andrew Michaels has been walking me home for the past two weeks, right?" Jack raises and eyebrow at this while Katherine and Clara nod apparently in the know so Ruth continues, "Well today I saw him holding hands with Marlene Baker and I ended up waiting for him for half an hour on the steps of the school." She flipped a page violently on the last word, nearly tearing it.

"Never liked that kid." Jack said leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Spoiled brat, is what he is. I've heard his Ma say some nasty things about Katherine before."

Clara turned to look at him, "Who's his mother?"

"Emma Michaels." Katherine supplied tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Huh," Clara huffed dangerously pursing her lips the way she did when she had to go to society teas. Davey patted her hand to calm her.

"What's this kid's name again?" Spot asked from his spot next to Jack.

"Andrew Michaels." Ruth replied angrily flipping a page again.

"We'll see you later, come on guys. I'm gonna get the rest of the boys." Spot said nonchalantly getting up, cracking his knuckles.

"We can't kill a sixteen-year-old." Davey pointed out to him.

"Not sayin' we're gonna kill him, just scare some sense into the kid." Spot replied matter-of-factly looking at Jack who seemed to be considering it.

"You'd do that, Uncle Spot?" Ruth asked looking at him with her big eyes, some of the anger leaving her face. Spot nodded as if it were obvious and Jack still looked as if he was debating whether to follow his friend or not.

"See, imagine if we had kids." Davey said turning to Clara, "We'd have people lining up to kick the crap out of some kid, a jerk, no doubt, but still a kid."

"Sugar, if we had kids, they be kicking the crap out of the jerks themselves." Clara smiled at her husband serenely and twining her fingers with his.

"We cannot go scare the Michaels boy!" Katherine chided her husband and Spot. "As much as he deserves it." She added on off of Ruth's look.

"Send's a message not to lead her on!" Spot exclaimed as if it made all the sense in the world to go terrorize a boy.

"Yeah, but these kids get scared for anythin'. They ain't as tough as the boys or Ruth." Jack explained to him in defeat.

Spot sighed and sat back down, "Alright fine, but Ruth better kick his ass next time she sees him. Remember that left hook your dad taught you?"

Ruth nodded, beginning to consider it.

"If you're gonna punch him though make sure you actually do it, don't kiss him like your Ma did." Jack interjected which earned him an elbow to the ribs.

Ruth got up and announced she needed tea, striding over to the kitchen. But before she made the turn into the kitchen she ran behind Spot and threw her arms around his shoulders and whispered, "Thanks for almost killing him." before returning to the kitchen.

Spot felt a smile tug at his lips the way it always did when his niece was around, "My pleasure, kid."


End file.
